Boeing Back on Top as Airbus Falters

European planemaker Airbus has ceded ground to rival Boeing (NYSE:BA) this year after grabbing its biggest ever share of the global market in 2011 with records sales of its new jetliner. Airbus sold no previously unassigned aircraft in February, and remains well behind Boeing since the start of the year.

Boeing came back with a vengeance when it introduced its 737 MAX, and is expected to tip the scales in 2012. Airbus figures so far this year would seem to confirm that prediction, as the EADS subsidiary has made roughly a quarter of the sales booked by Boeing in the last two months, though the two are neck-and-neck on deliveries, which are based on earlier orders.

Airbus has sold 97 aircraft so far this year, for a net total of 91 including cancellations. At Singapore’s air show last month, the largest in Asia, Boeing sold 230 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft just to low-cost carrier Lion Air, and has sold 387 aircraft so far this year, or a net figure of 385 after cancellations.